NFTs in MMOs, EIEIO

How to do it with as little pain as possible, which is still a lot

Copyright (but not NFT) 2021 by Dave Van Domelen
    Okay, so it's 2021, and at least one online game is threatening to bring in NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens. (Fungible means every copy is functionally the same as every other copy, an NFT is a way of electronically establishing uniqueness, in case you're reading this after NFTs have gone away.) Basically, the idea is that you can pay to lock a particular combination of game assets to you and you alone, so no one looks exactly like you. After giving the matter some thought, here's a few suggestions for how to apply the concept with minimal alienation of either the players who buy NFTs or those who don't.

1. DON'T.

    Seriously, while NFTs started as a good idea (let digital artists establish authenticity like physical media artists do), it's all kinds of horrible in many ways. And it's not even necessary for uniqueness purposes on an MMO, since there's already in-system ways to do that (the issue of non-copied character names being one of long standing). But arguing that isn't the purpose of this essay, so let's assume that there's a corporate mandate and you gotta work the things in despite all the reasons to NOT.

2. Sell NFTs that are appearance only.

    If you don't do this, you might as well give up on having anything like game balance. That's because if a player owns the game mechanics of an asset, then you can't change it without their permission. Players will find exploits, and if you can let them pay to lock down those exploits you can forget about ever fixing anything.

    Now, the easiest way is to just make NFTs part of the cosmetic or "glam" system, and never actually sell functional items as part of NFTs, but that's easier said than done in a game where gear has functional elements (e.g. a game where you build giant robots to fight aliens will probably have specific pieces that are for tanking or for DPS or for support, and you might want to make sure that a tanking piece doesn't look like a DPS piece). So, make it abundantly clear to the players that the game reserves the right to adjust game-functional elements of any asset, just not the appearance. Even then, you might run into problems with players demanding refunds because of "nerfing" their NFT. But at least you'll have a legal leg to stand on and they won't.

    You may also want to reinforce this by letting players download high resolution files of their NFT, to make it clear that they own the piece of art they have made using game assets. Maybe even offer STL files or other 3D assets for an extra fee. This can also be promoted as insulating them from losing their property if (well, when) the game shuts down.

3. Don't screw over the free players.

    There's two reasons to avoid doing anything that would anger or discourage the free players:
  1. Happy free players are more likely to become paying players.
  2. A game with only paying players will tend to feel emptier, and an MMO really needs a leavening of free (or paying-less) players to keep it vibrant.
    One thing that's sure to annoy a free player is if they log in and find that their design has been "generic'ed" because someone else bought the NFT to their specific look. Sure, the number of assets and colors available mean that this will almost never happen by accident, but it will inevitably arise as a form of griefing if you let it.

    One way to avoid this is to make sure players have to pick "standard" or "NFT" when designing a character. Almost all MMOs have a distinction between free assets and paid assets, so there's plenty of guidance for how much you should provide for free. Standard character appearances can only use standard parts, NFT character appearances can only use NFT parts.

    One way to avoid issues of "But what if I want to use a standard part in an NFT design?" would be to have three tiers of NFT parts (possibly with three tiers of price):

  1. "Almost the same as standard" - These would have only very minor changes, to the point you might need to zoom in to see them. This would let people use "standard" pieces without denying those pieces to standard characters, while technically being part of a unique and NFT-able ensemble. Example: a relatively ornate longsword, almost the same as the standard version, but the hilt has an extra bit of detail on it.
  2. "Upgrades" - These would look like evolutions of the standard pieces. A helmet with a bigger crest, more glowing bits on a weapon, etc. Immediately obvious as not being standard, but preserving the same general aesthetic. Example: the longsword, but now it has glowing runes.
  3. "Uniques" - Finally, pieces that are nothing like the standard pieces, so if you want the kind of appearance they give, you gotta pay up. Example: a sword with a demon eye in the crosspiece that glances about balefully while flames lick along the length of the blade.

4. Get lawyers. Lots of 'em.

    Here's where things get painful for the game company. Not just because players might sue over things like nerfed gear in their NFT set, either.

    Players selling things to other players for real money in a game is legally fraught, and any company that doesn't want major hassles is going to at least give lip-service to banning it. At the very least, you don't want to set up an official auction system for exchanging NFTs. But players who buy NFTs see them as their property, to do with as they will. There's a significant conflict there, yes? While an MMO can actually enforce ownership within a game (technically, no harder that keeping people from taking the same character name), saying players own the appearance and then forbidding them from selling it is going to cause friction.

 &nsbp;  (Later note that was drawn to my attention: players selling things also technically involves the IRS or other applicable taxation agencies. This could result in a tax burden for the game company, as suppliers of the trafficked goods. Even more reason to not.)

    I am not a lawyer, as they say. You will definitely need one or more to deal with this issue. But here's a few things that, if they can be done legally, might help keep a lid on matters:

  1. Restrict how many NFTs a player can own. If they want to claim a new one, they have to release an old one. This is a bit heavy-handed, but might be necessary to stop hoarding.
  2. Give a discount on new NFTs if they release an old one in the process. Basically, a trade-in.
  3. Let players buy "dibs" on a released NFT but only with in-game currency that can't be exchanged for real money. They'd have some amount of time to buy the NFT from the game before it goes back into the general pool.
  4. Have enough colors available that there's no incentive to buy someone else's NFT when a player can just clone it and tweak the colors very slightly. (This will probably annoy the paying customers, though.)
    This is probably the biggest issue with any sort of "you have a truly unique look" in an MMO, regardless of whether it's enforced with NFTs or a purely in-game system the way name uniqueness is. "If it's really mine, why can't I get paid for it?" I'm not sure that this hurdle can be surmounted in a way that enough people would be satisfied by the solution, though. So, ultimately...DON'T USE NFT IN MMO.

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